The People You'd Run Into in 1961 Covington

 In 1961 columnist Fred Darragh wrote in the St. Tammany Tribune a detailed description of the people and places one would visit on a typical day in downtown Covington. 

Sit back now, relax, and enjoy the "heartbeat of the town" as described by Darragh. 

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Here is the text from the above article:

COVINGTON BEAT With Fred C. Darragh

Walk down Boston street -- any Saturday morning -- 

AND LISTEN TO THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR TOWN!

Pick up your mail and stop at the P.P. (Parcel Post) window for a package, delivered in a flurry of good-natured insults tossed back and forth with Dick Schroeder and Russell Sharp. Stop on the post office steps to pass the time of day with Lucille Glisson, whose usual cheery greeting has been reduced to a whisper these past. few months due to a throat injury suffered in a minor car accident. Assured that the condition is a temporary one, your large legion of friends are all pulling for a speedy recover, Lucille.

Wave cheerfully to Julia Stone, whose twinkling toes seem to fly over. rather than on, the ground. as she covers the distance between office and bank. Something in her return wave seems to carry the assurance that "God's in His heaven -all's right with the world."

Stop in the middle of the block to exchange chit - chat with Frank Patecek and Randy Powell, two of Covington's leading realtors who speak of deals in the hundred thousands. but who daily settle for less -- MUCH LESS. Randy was my landlord for a number of years, and Frank has been a fellow conspirator with me in many schemes and varied, to sell projects ranging from Tung Festivals to Lions' Club Barbecues, to the general public, for community improvement and welfare.

Step into the cool cavern of Tugy's Bar, an institution in the Southern Hotel since the mid-1930s when Julius Tugendhaft assisted by the late, well loved, Barney Carey, Sr., and Tony Bacarisse, quit tending bar for Sam Haik to open what has affectionately come to be known as "The Office" by a large segment of both genders of the community.

It's a bit early for the post-prandial customers who drop by for an exchange of gossip or discussion of the various sports activities ranging from bowling, through Little League ball, to Country Club golf. It's a bit early for the usual evening routine, so what do we find?

Tugy and Jack Brown sharing a shaker of coffee from the hotel dining room, as Otis Heintz jots down his weekly order, while Jake Seiler (as much a regular as Tugy himself drops by to report progress on his new house.

Joe Ward and Shelby West lend a nautical touch to the gathering. Joe, just in from a stint in the Gulf, joins happily in the general conversation. Shelby sits, silent and withdrawn, at one of the tables, darkly pondering, not where his next meal may come from, but where and with whom it will be enjoyed. A gourmet of note. and bachelor to boot, Shelby loves nothing better than to dine with friends on a fare that he usually provides.

This is the quiet time. The place will empty and fill a number of times before eleven o'clock closing, with a variety of people seeking momentary escape from the hurley-burley of the workaday world, but if you listen real hard you will begin to hear the HEARTTHROB OF OUR CITY.

•••

At the bank corner you may bump into Art Lemane and Dan Berlin, escaping their bank cages for a few minutes "coffee break". Their conversation may range from baby care to carnival balls. but I'm willing to bet a stale cooky that it's far removed from debits and credits.

Crossing the street to Hebert's Drug Store we get a friendly wave from deputies Anna Lee Koepp and Joyce Keifer, the most decorative fixtures in St. Tammany's law enforcement structure. They may be OFFICE deputies but they do make an ARRESTING sight in their trim uniforms.

Back in the drug department pharmacist Stanley Bridges is busily counting pills for numerous prescriptions, while making occasional side remarks to Lucille Hebert or salesman John Felker who keeps all of the drug stores on the COVINGTON BEAT well supplied with panaceas for our numerous aches and pains. The only thing to make Stanley miss count is to call him "papa", a title of which he is inordinately proud.

Passing the time of day with O.J., we pause at the perfume display which John Cannon is regarding with slightly jaundiced eye. I bring him out of his reverie by asking him to find a buyer for two completely equipped tropical fish aquariums which I possess, knowing full well that if there is a buyer within 90 miles of Covington salesman John. (who is also a  minister and deputy sheriff) will find him.

St. Tammany Tribune Newspaper May 12, 1961

Links of interest:

WARB Memories

Bogue Falaya Shopping Plaza

Claiborne Hill Business Map

A Walk Around Covington in 1904

Walking Tour of Covington - 1983

Bowling League Winners - 1961

 Several group photos of local bowling league winners were featured in the April 28, 1961, issue of the St. Tammany Tribune Newspaper. Here they are. Click on the images to make them larger. 

Roy's Knife & Archery Shop

  Roy Blaum established Roy's Knife & Archery Shop in 1976. A former sports and news photographer for the Times Picayune and cameraman for WWL-TV in the 1960's,  he was also widely recognized as an outstanding knife maker. He died on Thursday, July 3, 2025.

Roy Blaum playing his guitar was a common sight, along with his wood-carvings, photography exhibit and the wide variety of sporting goods inside his store at 319 North Columbia St., Covington, LA. (Photos by Ron Barthet)

According to his obituary posted at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home in Covington, Roy was born in New Orleans on April 8, 1935. He attended Tulane University and majored in Architecture and Business Administration. He enlisted in the Army in 1956 and served as a radio operator in Korea. 

In Korea he discovered his passion for photography. After his military service he attended San Mateo College in California in order to study photography. He was then accepted to Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California for advanced photography studies. 

He later worked as a cameraman for Channel 8, WVUE-TV filming news and sports, and producing commercials. He became the Chief Cameraman with channel 4, WWL-TV and WYES-TV, filming news, documentaries, commercials, production and special features for Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace shows on CBS News.

He was also a Cameraman and Stringer for United Press International and UPI films, Newsweek, Time and Life Magazines as well as the Associated Press. He completed a film for Plaquemine Parish on life styles and industry. 

In addition, he was a staff photographer for the Times Picayune, Daily Record and States Item newspapers in New Orleans. It was around this time that he began to learn the Harmonica. This led to him to serve as a cameraman, editor, and performer of original harmonica music for a documentary called “Help”. 

Shortly thereafter Roy began to master the guitar. He moved to the north shore in 1978 and began his life at the shop. He started making knives and opened three knife shops, including the one on North Columbia St. in Covington. 

He was an avid bass fisherman and traditional bow hunter. He became well-known for his amazing and whimsical carved figures and shared them with many people. Memorial services were scheduled for E. J. Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 W 21st Avenue, Covington LA 70433 on Friday, July 11, 2025, at 9:30 AM with interment following in the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery.

 

For more information about Roy and his shop, CLICK HERE for an Inside Northside article.

Roy's Knife & Archery Shop, 
Columbia Street, Covington

In May of 2020, Roy made headlines by speaking out about how government-enforced stay-at-home orders due to CoVID did not apply to him and many other business owners. 

Video of Roy inside his Knife & Archery Shop

(To view the video click on the "Play Triangle" in the center)

Below is a sample of one of the many Blaum photographs that appeared in the Times Picayune Newspaper:

Links of Interest:

Roy Blaum received the Key to the City from Covington Mayor Cooper

Archery World Video of Roy Blaum playing guitar

Morning Advocate Photo

https://covingtonweekly.com/tag/roy-blaum/

The Store Website

St. Scholastica Priory

The land in the southeast quadrant of the Stafford Road/Smith Road intersection north of Covington was originally homesteaded in the mid-1800's on a land grant given to Joseph Schneyder. The title for the property was recorded in 1890.

The area was the home of St. Benedict's Chapel, one of the first churches in the rural areas northeast of Covington. 

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In the 1930's Schneyder heirs sold some of it to Lester Alexander, who named it "The Flying A Ranch." He was  head of the Alexandria Shipyard and a well-known area industrialist. In 1952 he was listed among the many Covington area civic leaders who were taking part in a fund-raising drive for the Benedictine Sisters.

The shipbuildinghistory.com website provided the following information:

AMERICAN MARINE CORP. New Orleans LA

Lester F. Alexander started this shipyard on the east side of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, immediately south of the I-10 bridge, before World War II. The yard was a pioneer of the offshore industry, building not only the famous "Breton Rig 20" and John LaBorde's early submersibles but also the first supply boats for Tidewater.  

He was also instrumental in proposing the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet canal.

 Alexander died in 1957.

The property was purchased by the Benedictine Sisters in 1958 and became the group's new Priory. 

The new Priory location became a favorite gathering place for many groups and even weddings. The St. Scholastica Academy 4-H Club would meet there often. Hundreds of visitors from throughout the area enjoyed the grounds and outdoor activities offered by the Priory. 

Original plans for improving the property included moving all the students from the Covington St. Scholastica Academy site to a new Stafford Road location. 

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Funding for the ambitious project proved a challenge, however. The Sisters did move their own group residence from Covington to the Alexander home on the property in 1964.

A 4-H group poses in front of the Flying A Ranch sign. 

The Junior 4-H Club at St. Scholastica Academy was active in a variety of programs, many of which were demonstrated at the Priory grounds. 

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By the early 1960's plans were made for a more modern building to serve a variety of purposes, including a convent, a retreat house, picnic grounds, and hosting other Catholic community events. 

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The property became a favorite stop on Covington's many Spring Fiesta Garden Tours. 

It became the place for Easter Egg hunts, Engaged Encounters, Student Field Days, and SSA Reunions, with an occasional wedding because of the beautiful grounds. The nuns at the Priory were involved in many community projects, from making dolls for area children to handcrafted items for sale in fund-raising drives. 

The Priory hosted conferences and lectures by visiting dignitaries. 

After serving the Catholic community for many years, some of the property was sold to developers and became Terra Maria and Alexander Ridge subdivisions. The frontage on Stafford Road however continued to be owned by the Catholic church and became a nursing home for several years. Most recently that building was converted as a Congregational Center for the Marianites of Holy Cross.

Earlier this year, the Catholic Church re-purchased the additional property to the rear of the congregational center from the developers and is clearing it and making improvements. The first thing the Marianites did was demolish the  large 1965 structure which had been abandoned for decades and fallen into ruin.  

Rodrigue Appointed, Sworn Into Office

 In January of 1961, Julian Rodrigue was sworn into office as Assistant District Attorney, 22nd Judicial District. Judge Steve Ellis performed the ceremony. 

The Northshore's Maritime Legacy

 Last year I wrote a article for the Northshore magazine, a publication of the St. Tammany Parish Tourism and Convention Commission. It gave an overall review of the milestones of the area's rich maritime industry, the many boats and marinas, shipyards, and outstanding pioneers in marine technology. 

Here is that article:

Maritime History of the Northshore

Widely recognized for its many modern marinas that provide safe harbor for thousands of recreational boats, the Northshore also enjoys a rich history of little-known maritime milestones. The lake and rivers once teemed with cargo schooners and passenger steamships, and over the years several shipyards produced hundreds of large vessels for World War I and II, as well as the worldwide petroleum industry.

Columbia Landing, Covington

Early Native Americans glided along the waterways in their dugout canoes, and even went out into the lake to their village on an island in the middle of Lake Pontchartrain more than 500 years ago.

Day sailors cruise the lake daily, carrying on a tradition that began centuries ago. Paintings from the 1800’s often include sailing boats gliding across the lake. The Mandeville yacht club was established as early as 1893, and yacht club regattas frequently transversed the lake back then and continue today.

The Northshore even earned a spot in nautical history when James Rumsey, the inventor of the steamboat, lived on Bayou Rouville in Lacombe beginning in 1774. Working in secret, he used the newly-invented steam engine to design a craft that could move forward against the current. His work continued, first on Pearl River Island just east of the Rigolet sand then in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1787 in the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, WV, he amazed onlookers with this steam-powered watercraft. A park and monument on the bank of the Potomac River recognizes his achievements. He later served as George Washington’s chief engineer.

Horace Lawson Hunley is widely acknowledged as the developer of submarine technology and "the father of submarine warfare." In the mid-1800’s he owned a plantation in Covington and designed three submarines. The first one, built at a foundry in New Orleans, was called the “Pioneer.” After being tested in the lake, it was reportedly scuttled in the Tchefuncte River near Madisonville to keep it out of Yankee hands.

The third submarine built from his designs is credited with the first sinking of an enemy vessel in times of war. That took place in Charleston, SC, harbor.

Meanwhile, back in Lake Pontchartrain, as New Orleans trade activity increased, an ever-growing amount of goods and produce came from the Northshore. This was made possible by dozens of cargo schooners criss-crossing the lake. Demand was so high that between 1842 and 1887, more than 58 sailing vessels were built on the Northshore. The same schooners helped many people escape to the Northshore when outbreaks of yellow fever descended upon the Crescent City.

Southbound trade became so prolific on the lake and through the Rigolets that a number of pirates flourished as well. They would confront vessels laden with items bound for New Orleans, steal their booty, and then go hide out in the Honey Island Swamp. Thousands of dollars’ worth of gold coins, dated 1827, were found buried in that swamp in 1907. Today the Honey Island Swamp is a treasure for hunters and fishermen as well as wildlife enthusiasts who delight in the daily cruises that tour the swamp.

When passenger steamboats made the scene in the late 19th century, they offered daily trips to the Northshore for heat-weary New Orleans residents. Thousands of people enjoyed weekend excursion voyages on these vessels, and beginning in the 1920’s the boats could even accommodate vehicles. Thus the New Orleans workday commute was born. Early on Slidell area residents used a ferry to cross over the Rigolets, but a bridge was built in 1930 that helped bring traffic to and from the Crescent City. Many commuters switched over to the world’s longest bridge, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, in 1956.

In the early 1900’s New Orleans musicians would voyage to Mandeville, paying for their passage on board the excursion boats by providing music for fellow passengers. They would then make the circuit of several music halls across the Northshore to play for dances and parties. The Northshore’s rich musical heritage continues today with riverside concerts in Covington, lakefront symphonic performances, and the ever popular jazz sessions at the Dew Drop Dance Hall in Mandeville.

Area shipyards began with a U.S. Navy shipyard built in the early 1800’s on the Tchefuncte River. Since then, the Northshore has hosted several large shipyards producing a variety of tugboats, barges and cargo ships. Multiple thousands of Northshore men and women have contributed to the expansion of the U.S. merchant maritime fleet as well as warships when needed. During the 20th century, shipyards flourished on Bayou BonFouca in Slidell, Lacombe, and Madisonville. Some are still in operation today.

Among the larger operations were Canulette Shipyards, Southern Shipbuilding, Louisiana Shipyard, all of Slidell, and Jahncke Shipyards and Equitable Equipment Co. both of Madisonville. The Maritime Museum Louisiana was built in the mid-1990’s on the Jahncke worksite. Equitable was the world's largest builder of LASH and SEABEE barges, and the company also built various types of offshore support boats, ocean-going tugs, and other vessels for the petroleum industry. 

Balehi Marine in Lacombe, founded in 1975, was a small operation, but it produced custom-designed boats in steel, aluminum and fiberglass. Towboats and tugboats were its specialty. It was located alongside today’s highly popular Tammany Trace recreational bike trail.

The Northshore maritime legacy continues today with the Wooden Boat Festival in Madisonville. Each October it attracts thousands of boating enthusiasts of all ages, features over one hundred classic boats, and brings in hundreds of spectator boats as well. It is a fund-raising event for the nearby Maritime Museum Louisiana which showcases the state’s many unique contributions to the maritime industry. There visitors find many informative displays focusing on the history of area lighthouses, steamboats, and fishing vessels, as well as a replica of the Pioneer submarine.

Links of interest:

Maritime Museum Update

The Madisonville Lighthouses

Captain Weaver - A Covington Legend

Madisonville Shipyard Historical Event

The Koenig Family of Pearl River

Around 1908 the Koenig family of Pearl River gathered on their front porch for this group photo. 

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Links of Interest:

With Sawmills Came Prosperity

Pearl River Train Station

The First Cotton Bale

  The first cotton bale produced in St. Tammany Parish came from the Pearl River area back in 1926. 

Goodbee Becomes Major Shipping Center

 In 1927 and 1928 St. Tammany strawberry growers throughout the Madisonville area began turning out sizeable crops, and getting those to market was a challenge. But improvements made to the Turnpike Highway up to Goodbee helped, and there the strawberry crop was loaded onto trains bound for Hammond. 

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The train depot in Goodbee saw a significant increase in traffic as a result. It was a win-win for both Madisonville and Goodbee. 

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The Y. & M. V. was a railroad line from north Mississippi to Baton Rouge, then eastward towards Covington and down to New Orleans. The letters stood for the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad. 

From Baton Rouge, the train track (red line) passed through Hammond and Goodbee and extended to north Covington.

There was even a "dummy line" railroad spur from Madisonville to Goodbee that helped moved goods back and forth, mainly timber down to the lumber mills in Madisonville.

1935 Topographical Map

Links of Interest:

Turnpike Road Is Built

Country Boy One-Stop

Life on Turnpike Road - Late 1800's